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PHILADELPHIA — States are passing laws requiring mammography centers to tell women about their
breast density so they can consider more imaging tests, such as ultrasound and MRI.

Dense breast tissue makes finding cancer on a mammogram more difficult. It also might increase
the chance of developing breast cancer.

In the four years since Connecticut passed the first breast-density law, 10 states have followed
suit. Bills are pending in 19 states, including Ohio, and a federal bill has been introduced.

This movement is being driven by breast cancer survivors who learned they had dense breasts only
after their advanced cancers that had been missed by mammograms were diagnosed.

But physicians warn that experts don’t understand why most breasts have areas of dense glandular
and connective tissue, much less what to do about it.

In a statement last year, the American College of Radiology said: The assessment of breast
density is subjective; dense breasts are common, and experts disagree about whether that alone
warrants more imaging tests; women might panic or feel falsely reassured by their density report;
and ultrasound and MRI screening could add to the problems of false alarms, of detecting and
treating trivial cancers.

The American Cancer Society, which recommends MRIs only for women at high risk of breast cancer,
also is leery.